With Titans and Doom Patrol kicking up a storm over on DC Universe, fans have every reason to be excited for the trailer for the latest addition to the streaming platform. Straight away, the trailer for Swamp Thing leans hard into comic's horror roots, but with The Conjuring director, James Wan attached as a producer that's hardly surprising. With the series following writer Alan Moore's legendary run on the character, there was plenty in this trailer for fans to get excited about from moments that looked familiar to wider hints for where the series could be going.
The Rot
This trailer shows a lot of people being infected and even killed by some kind of swamp virus, leading us to believe that this strange infection is, in fact, The Rot. Being a horror comic, Swamp Thing is often about the battle of good vs evil, and the Rot, usually controlled by arch nemesis Anton Arcane, is an all-consuming force of death. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing has access to The Green, a powerful life force, but so far the trailer gives no hints to whether this special power will be used to cure the afflicted town.
Abby Arcane
The person who gets the most attention in this trailer is a woman who identifies herself as Abby Arcane. In the comics, Abby eventually becomes a love interest for Swamp Thing, but it appears she may have more of a hands-on role than she usually does, seen in the trailer as an investigator rather than a school assistant. Abby is also significant for her relationship with the powerful sorcerer Anton Arcane. The trailer gives little away about his involvement in the show, but it's probably likely he'll make an appearance at some point.
Alec Holland
The appearance of Alec Holland in this trailer is really significant because he is the Swamp Thing. An environmental researcher, Holland is set on fire when a bomb goes off during an experiment, he flees to the swamp where his body proceeds to bond with it, turning him into good ol' Swamp Thing. We get some hints to Holland's origin when we see a boat he's working on explode, but the fact that he appears so much in this trailer could be a clever misdirect to make it look like he has a bigger part than he actually does.
Matt Cable
Matt Cable's presence will be significant to any comics fan because he ends up bringing Arcane back from the dead! However, from what the trailer shows us, that's not the Matt Cable we'll be getting. Instead, Matt appears to be playing a local police officer who helps Abby in her investigations. As Abby and Matt get married in the comics, it's likely that this season will focus on their budding romance and saving Matt's descent into evil for another time.
The Floronic Man
For all the speculation about Arcane, it looks like a key villain this season will be Jason Woodrue aka the Floronic Man. Not only does Kevin Durand's Woodrue actually appear in the trailer, but he's heard talking about experimenting on Swamp Thing. This is most likely a reference to a very famous Swamp Thing comic, #21 "The Anatomy Lesson", in which Jason Woodrue tries to dissect Swamp Thing but instead turns himself into a very different type of plant-based monster—one so powerful that the Justice League had to help stop him!
"Beyond The Known Scope of Science"
One of the biggest hints given to the audience about where the show may be going comes when Abby pronounces the case to be "beyond the known scope of science". While the trailer shows Swamp Thing as a hulking, muscle-bound presence, fans of the comics may have noticed the hint to one of Swamp Thing's most significant powers. Swamp Thing discovers that he is not bound to his body, and he can grow a new one and even transport his body across great distances. In one issue, Swamp Thing travels to a distant planet and makes himself its god; this would certainly be "beyond the known scope of science".
Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu is a precog with quite a big significance in DC comics, but whether she'll appear in shows other than Swamp Thing remains to be seen. What is significant is her line "there's been a shift between the balance of the light and the dark" is that, while this works to establish some reasonably big stakes it could also be another hint for wider storylines to come. In issue #50 "The End" Swamp Thing is a warrior in the war between Good and Evil where one force must ultimately eradicate the other. That's a pretty big story for the first season, but it's exciting that they may already be putting these plans in motion.
The Blue Devil
In the briefest of moments, we can see a man being attacked by a figure with horns. Demons and devils are quite common in Swamp Thing, but this could be a glimpse at a rather different demon character. Daniel Cassidy was an actor who gained fame through his portrayal of the character the Blue Devil. As his star falls, he grows hungry again for the type of attention he got while famous. In the comics, Cassidy becomes fused with the suit and villainous antics ensue.
Maria Sunderland
Maria Sunderland is an original character to the series, but her husband Avery is a well known Swamp Thing villain. Virginia Madsen, who plays Maria in the show, has stated that her character has a tragic past, and the arrival of Abby brings it up again. In the trailer we see Maria try to drown Abby so it's likely she's not handling her grief well. Of course, Maria could have lost her daughter in supernatural circumstances and her blaming Abby could confirm Abby's connection to the dark arts via her uncle.
Ghosts!
Swamp Thing is a comic that is full of haunting spirits and grotesque creatures. In the trailer, there is a moment when Abby comes face to face with the spirit of a dead child, reaching out to grab her hand, all covered in creepy swamp residue. It's likely that this show will also explore how the presence of evil can affect ordinary human lives. Rather than just focusing on the epic battle of good and evil it's likely that the show, as in the comics, will have its characters find themselves caught in a personal struggle between the light and the dark.